The Forgotten Psalm (13)

Men of the King

Series: The Forgotten Psalm: Recovering the Reigning Christ of Psalm 110 *Week 13 — Final Charge Date: Sunday, January 5, 2026 Text: Ephesians 6:10–20; Psalm 110:7 Big Idea: Those who serve a reigning King must live as disciplined, battle-ready servants under His authority.

Series Recap (Final)

For thirteen weeks, we have been rebuilding the Church’s memory.

We have seen that Psalm 110 is not a forgotten footnote—it is the backbone of the New Testament. We have seen that Jesus Christ is enthroned now, seated at the right hand of the Father, reigning in the midst of His enemies. We have seen that His Kingdom is not postponed, not delayed, not waiting for permission. We have seen that His people are not passive spectators but willing volunteers in the day of His power. We have seen that history is not drifting—it is moving toward the full submission of all things under the reign of Christ.

That question is settled.

The only question left is this:

What kind of people does a reigning King require?

Context & Connection

Psalm 110 ends with a striking image:

The King drinks from the brook by the way, and then He lifts up His head.

This is not exhaustion after battle. It is refreshment during advance.

The image is not retreat—it is resolve. The King pauses only long enough to be strengthened, then He presses forward.

That is the posture of Christ’s reign.

And Ephesians 6 shows us what that reign produces in His people.

Paul does not write to a fearful Church hiding from the world. He writes to saints already seated with Christ in the heavenly places. He writes to a Church that already belongs to a reigning King.

And because Christ reigns, His people must be disciplined, trained, armored, and alert.

Scripture Reading Eph 6:10-20

The Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, 17also receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,18praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel— 20for which I am an ambassador in chains—so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Exposition

1. Strength Comes from the Throne, Not the Self

Paul does not tell believers to look inward for strength. He does not appeal to grit, resolve, personality, or emotional resilience. He does not say, “Dig deep,” or “Try harder,” or “Believe in yourself.” Instead, he commands something far more demanding—and far more stabilizing: be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

This is throne-derived strength.

Strength that does not originate in the self, but flows from the reign of Christ. Strength that is not manufactured by discipline alone, but received through union with the One who sits at the right hand of the Father.

Psalm 110 begins not with instruction, not with warning, but with enthronement: “Sit at My right hand.” Everything else in the Psalm—victory, priesthood, judgment, willing people, subdued enemies—flows from that seat of authority. The throne is the source. The reign is the supply line.

Christ’s reign supplies the strength His people need because His reign is active, present, and sustaining. He is not a distant King issuing commands from afar. He is seated, ruling, interceding, and empowering His people in real time. The strength Paul speaks of is not abstract power—it is covenantal provision from a reigning Lord.

This means the Christian life is not sustained by personality traits, natural confidence, or raw determination. It is not upheld by motivation, charisma, or emotional momentum. Those things burn out quickly. They fracture under pressure.

The Christian life is sustained by union with a reigning King.

When believers forget where their strength comes from, Christianity begins to feel exhausting, fragile, and overwhelming. Obedience becomes heavy. Endurance feels impossible. Faith starts to shrink. But the problem is not Christ. The problem is disconnection from the throne.

Weak Christianity does not come from a weak Christ. It comes from Christians who forget that their King reigns—and that His reign is the source of their strength.

When the throne is remembered, strength returns.

2. The Battle Is Real, But the Authority Is Settled

Paul reminds us that the struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our enemies are not people, not political parties, not cultures, and not institutions. The real conflict is spiritual—unseen, organized, intelligent, and persistent. There are rulers, authorities, and powers actively opposing the reign of Christ.

But notice what Paul does not say.

He does not say we are fighting for victory. He does not say the outcome is in doubt. He does not say Satan is gaining ground. He does not say Christ’s authority is contested or fragile.

Paul assumes Christ’s authority.

That assumption governs everything else he writes. The call to stand firm only makes sense if the throne is already occupied. You do not tell soldiers to hold ground unless the ground already belongs to the King.

Psalm 110 makes this explicit: the King reigns in the midst of His enemies, not after they are removed. Christ does not wait for opposition to disappear before He rules. He rules while opposition remains—and He subdues it through time, obedience, judgment, and Gospel advance.

Opposition does not negate His rule—it confirms it. Resistance is not evidence of absence; it is evidence of collision. When darkness resists, it is because light is present. When lies push back, it is because truth is advancing.

The existence of spiritual resistance does not mean Christ has stepped away. It means the Kingdom is pressing forward.

The conflict itself testifies to the reign of Christ. The battle exists because the throne stands.

And that means believers are not standing in uncertainty. They are standing in confidence—under orders from a King who already reigns.

3. Armor Is Issued Because the King Reigns

The armor of God is not survival gear—it is royal equipment. It is not issued to help believers barely endure until rescue arrives. It is issued because the ground beneath our feet already belongs to the King.

Each piece assumes that the believer is not hiding, not retreating, and not waiting—but standing on occupied territory. Christ has claimed the field. His authority has been established. His reign is already active.

Truth matters because Christ reigns in truth. Lies cannot govern where He rules. Righteousness matters because His rule is just. Compromise undermines allegiance. Peace matters because His Kingdom reconciles what sin divided. Faith matters because His promises are certain, not hypothetical. Salvation matters because His victory is complete, not pending. The Word matters because His authority is spoken—not whispered, not negotiated, but declared.

Armor is not issued to spectators who sit safely on the sidelines. It is issued to servants who have been commissioned.

Psalm 110 warned us plainly: the King rules in the midst of His enemies. That means the battlefield is not somewhere else. It is where we live, work, worship, and raise our families. The presence of opposition does not mean we are outmatched—it means we are exactly where the King has placed us.

There is no neutral zone. There is no opt-out clause.

To belong to the reigning Christ is to be equipped, positioned, and expected to stand—faithfully, visibly, and without apology—under His crown.

4. Standing Firm Is an Act of Obedience

Paul repeatedly says: stand.

Stand firm. Stand ready. Stand alert.

Standing is not passive. It is disciplined obedience over time—the steady refusal to yield ground once Christ has claimed it.

In a world that constantly shifts, redefines truth, and retreats from responsibility, standing firm becomes an act of warfare. Not loud warfare. Not theatrical warfare. But faithful, ordered resistance to chaos.

This kind of standing begins where Christ’s reign must be most visible: in the home.

A family ordered under the Gospel is one of the clearest pictures of standing firm in a collapsing culture. When a husband embraces his calling to lead with sacrificial love, rather than abdicate responsibility, he is standing. When a wife walks in strength, wisdom, and godly submission, refusing the lie that harmony requires rebellion, she is standing. When children are taught obedience, discipline, and reverence, rather than being placed at the center of the household, the family is standing.

That kind of order does not happen by accident. It requires perseverance. It requires saying no to cultural pressure, no to exhaustion, no to shortcuts. It requires returning—again and again—to the Word, to prayer, to worship, even when it feels costly or unnoticed.

Standing firm also extends into the Church. It looks like congregations that refuse to dilute truth for comfort. Churches that remain committed to worship, discipline, and doctrine when the world tells them to soften, adapt, or stay silent.

Christ’s reign does not require panic. It requires perseverance.

The Kingdom does not advance primarily through dramatic moments, but through faithfulness under pressure—families ordered rightly, churches anchored in truth, believers who refuse to retreat when the ground feels unstable.

This is how the Kingdom takes ground. Not in a rush. Not in fear. But by standing where the King has already placed us.

And every inch of ground held in faithfulness becomes territory the enemy cannot reclaim.

5. Prayer Is the Lifeline of Kingdom Warfare

Paul ends with prayer—not as an afterthought, not as a soft landing, and not as a spiritual footnote—but as the atmosphere in which everything else operates. Prayer is not the appendix to the armor; it is the air the soldier breathes. Without it, every piece of armor becomes lifeless metal.

Prayer is how soldiers stay connected to command. It is how orders are received, strength is renewed, wounds are reported, and direction is clarified. No army survives without communication, and no Christian endures without prayer. This is not mystical abstraction—it is operational necessity.

Psalm 110 shows us a priest-king who reigns and intercedes simultaneously. Christ does not alternate between ruling and praying—He does both at once. From the throne, He intercedes for His people. From the throne, He supplies grace, wisdom, endurance, and power. His reign is not distant; it is active, attentive, and sustaining.

Ephesians 6 shows us the earthly reflection of that heavenly reality: a praying people who fight while they serve. The Church does not wait until the battle is over to pray. She prays in the battle. She prays through the battle. She prays because the battle belongs to the Lord—and prayer is how we align ourselves with His will and His power.

This is not prayer as escape. This is not prayer as retreat. This is not prayer as denial of reality.

This is prayer as participation.

When the Church prays, she is not withdrawing from the conflict—she is stepping fully into it. Prayer is how truth advances, how courage is sustained, how deception is exposed, how endurance is preserved, and how victory is applied in real time.

The Church does not retreat into prayer. She advances through it.

Prayer is how the reign of the enthroned Christ is lived out on earth—through willing, disciplined, obedient servants who refuse to fight in their own strength and refuse to move without their King.

That is why Paul ends here. Because without prayer, nothing else stands.

6. Courage Is Required Under a Reigning King

Paul does not ask for protection from hardship. He does not ask for a quieter life or a safer path. He asks for boldness—because boldness is what a reigning King requires.

He asks for clarity, not comfort. Comfort dulls conviction. Clarity sharpens obedience.

He asks for faithfulness, not applause. Applause fades. Faithfulness endures.

Paul understands something the modern Church often forgets: when Christ reigns, silence is not an option. A throne demands proclamation. Authority demands testimony. Truth demands a voice.

Because Christ reigns, His servants must speak. Not when it is popular. Not when it is safe. Not when the culture applauds—but when truth must be told.

Silence is not neutrality. Silence is surrender.

To remain quiet when Christ is Lord is to behave as though He is not. To soften the Gospel is to act as though the throne is fragile. To retreat from truth is to deny the authority of the One who sent us.

The King reigns now. And because He reigns now, His Gospel must be proclaimed now.

Not with fear. Not with apology. But with conviction, humility, and courage—knowing that the authority behind the message does not belong to the messenger, but to the enthroned Christ Himself.

This is not a call to noise. It is a call to obedience.

And obedience speaks.

Application (Six Points)

Stop Living Like the Throne Is Empty. Plan your life as if Christ is reigning—because He is.

Order Your Heart Before You Try to Change the World. Kingdom conquest begins with disciplined minds and obedient hearts.

Train Your Household Under Christ’s Authority. Families are the first outposts of the Kingdom.

Serve the Church as a Kingdom Embassy. The Church is not a refuge from the world—it is a base of operations.

Refuse Passive Christianity. Christ’s people volunteer freely in the day of His power.

Endure with Confidence. The King is not pacing heaven. He is seated—and He is ruling.

Gospel Call

The One who humbled Himself for your salvation now reigns in glory.

The hands that were pierced now hold the scepter. The head that wore thorns now wears the crown. The Lamb who was slain is the King who reigns.

You will bow to Him.

The only question is how.

Will you bow now—freely, joyfully, in faith? Or later—when confession comes without mercy?

Christ reigns. Christ rules. Christ calls.

Repent—turn from your sin and self-rule. Believe—trust in the finished work of Christ. Confess—declare openly that Jesus Christ is Lord.

There is no refuge from the King.

But there is perfect refuge in Him.

Bow willingly. Serve faithfully. Stand ready.

Men of the King—rise.